At Least Six Dead as Bomb, Gun battle Rages in Afghanistan's Jalalabad

It was the latest deadly violence to strike Afghanistan as terrorist groups step up attacks and US-backed Afghan forces intensify air strikes and ground offensives.

Smoke rises from the site of a blast and gunbattle between Afghan security forces and a handful of militants in Jalalabad city, Afghanistan on May 13, 2018.(Photo: Reuters/Parwiz)

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Jalalabad (Afghanistan): At least six civilians were killed when terrorists detonated bombs and stormed a government building on Sunday in an ongoing assault in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, officials said.

There were two explosions near the city's directorate of finance, the Nangarhar provincial governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP, adding that "a number of attackers" had entered the building.

"Security forces are in the area chasing and fighting them," he said.

"So far six civilians (have been) killed and 33 wounded. One attacker is also down. The clearing operation is ongoing." Earlier, health department officials in the city said hospitals had received at least four dead bodies and 20 wounded people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Jalalabad is the capital of restive Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan. Some areas of the province are a stronghold of the Islamic State group but Taliban fighters are also active there.

It was the latest deadly violence to strike Afghanistan as terrorist groups step up attacks and US-backed Afghan forces intensify air strikes and ground offensives.